Illicit drug production in the region is limited to crack cocaine conversion
and indoor and outdoor cannabis grow operations. Methamphetamine typically is not
produced in the region. According to National Seizure System (NSS) data, no methamphetamine
laboratories were seized in the region in 2008.

Powder cocaine is routinely converted to crack cocaine by street gang members
in the Chicago HIDTA region. Because of harsh federal criminal penalties associated
with trafficking crack cocaine, street gangs and independent dealers typically convert
powder cocaine to crack in the vicinity of the intended market to limit exposure
to law enforcement operations.

Cannabis cultivation in the region takes place at indoor and outdoor grow sites.
Indoor cannabis cultivation, primarily among independent dealers, is more prevalent
than it had been in previous years. Outdoor cannabis grows in the region are periodically
seized on public lands and on farmlands, typically among corn stalks.

The Chicago HIDTA region's highly developed transportation infrastructure is
routinely exploited by Mexican DTOs and criminal groups to transport wholesale quantities
of cocaine, heroin, marijuana, and ice methamphetamine into the region from locations
along the Southwest Border. Mexican traffickers typically transport the drugs in
private and commercial vehicles, often concealing them in elaborate hidden compartments
or commingling them among legitimate freight goods. Mexican DTOs generally store
cocaine, heroin, and marijuana in local stash houses for subsequent distribution
in the region and for later transportation to other drug markets in the Midwest
and the eastern United States. The ice methamphetamine Mexican DTOs transport to
the region is usually further transported to midwestern drug markets because of
the low demand for the drug in the HIDTA region. Law enforcement officials report
that Caucasian traffickers from the region increasingly transport high-potency marijuana
from California and Washington to the region in private vehicles. Chinese, Vietnamese,
and Albanian traffickers also use commercial and private vehicles to transport significant
quantities of MDMA and high-potency marijuana from Canada into the region.

Major international airports in the Chicago HIDTA region are often used by Colombian,
Nigerian, and other West African DTOs and criminal groups to transport illicit drugs,
particularly heroin, into the region. Colombian traffickers sometimes employ couriers
to smuggle small quantities of SA heroin by commercial air into the region. They
also smuggle SA heroin into New York and Miami on commercial flights; some of this
heroin is further transported by Colombian couriers to Chicago in private vehicles.
Nigerian and other West African DTOs use couriers on commercial aircraft to transport
small quantities of SWA and SEA heroin from Europe and Canada to Chicago. Couriers
transporting illicit drugs on commercial airlines typically conceal the drugs in
their clothing, inside false compartments in their luggage, or by swallowing it.

Traffickers also use other methods to transport drugs into and throughout the
region, including mail, package delivery services, and couriers on buses and trains.
The Chicago HIDTA Package Interdiction Initiative regularly intercepts parcels containing
various illicit drugs, particularly marijuana, from California, Texas, and Washington.
It also seizes parcels containing cocaine, heroin, and methamphetamine from Arizona,
California, and Texas. Traffickers also use couriers on buses and trains to transport
illicit drugs and bulk cash into, through, and from the Chicago HIDTA region. Nationwide
bus and train companies have terminals in Chicago and offer transportation to other
parts of the country, including the Southwest Border and neighboring drug markets.
In addition, several bus companies offer direct connections between Chicago and
Southwest Border cities with travel times of less than 24 hours.